• Windows 7 random lock up

    Home » Forums » AskWoody support » Windows » Windows 7 » Questions: Windows 7 » Windows 7 random lock up

    Author
    Topic
    #488381

    WINDOWS 7 RANDOM LOCK UP

    Hello, I am having a problem with my windows 7 computer where it will spontaneously lock up, being unable to response in any way. Nothing works, except to restart my computer. This will happen even when it is asleep. It has been going on for a handful of months now (since last summer) and it is getting very frustrating. Typically it will happen anywhere from every 3 to 4 days to a few weeks in between.

    I checked my event viewer, and the following errors have come up since the last lock up:

    A timeout (30000 milliseconds) was reached while waiting for a transaction response from the ShellHWDetection service.
    A timeout (30000 milliseconds) was reached while waiting for a transaction response from the iphlpsvc service.
    The server {1F87137D-0E7C-44D5-8C73-4EFFB68962F2} did not register with DCOM within the required timeout.
    A timeout (30000 milliseconds) was reached while waiting for a transaction response from the LanmanServer service.
    A timeout (30000 milliseconds) was reached while waiting for a transaction response from the IKEEXT service.
    A timeout (30000 milliseconds) was reached while waiting for a transaction response from the ShellHWDetection service.
    A timeout (30000 milliseconds) was reached while waiting for a transaction response from the iphlpsvc service.
    The server {1F87137D-0E7C-44D5-8C73-4EFFB68962F2} did not register with DCOM within the required timeout.
    The server {4EB61BAC-A3B6-4760-9581-655041EF4D69} did not register with DCOM within the required timeout.

    Since the beginning of last month, I noticed several of the following errors:

    The file system structure on the disk is corrupt and unusable. Please run the chkdsk utility on the volume C:.
    The file system structure on the disk is corrupt and unusable. Please run the chkdsk utility on the volume OS.

    I have a 64-bit version of windows 7 installed. I booted the computer for the first time during the summer of 2010.

    Also, since January of 2012, I had to replace the RAM cartridges as well as the hard disk drive.

    I run defrag (default windows), a registry cleaner (wise registry cleaner), and malware bytes on a routine basis.
    Not sure what exactly is going on here. I’m not much of a computer technical person, but I use one a lot. Thank you very much for your time and help.

    Viewing 14 reply threads
    Author
    Replies
    • #1381753

      Welcome to the Lounge,

      You appear to have a hardware problem, possibly motherboard/network card as well as hard drive. They may all be caused by a faulty PSU. Without substantial testing/swapping out, it’ll be down to luck and guesswork. Do you have access to another computer that has compatible parts for testing?

      Backup any vital data now.

      • #1381780

        My parents have a computer of the same make and model, only it was purchased about a year after I bought mine. I do not believe they would want me fiddling with it, however.

        I do have a thumb drive that I can use to back up some vital files.

        Back when I bought the cpu, the first time I turned it on it gave me a BSOD. Since then, it hasn’t really done that more than twice.

        Thanks.

        • #1382047

          My parents have a computer of the same make and model, only it was purchased about a year after I bought mine. I do not believe they would want me fiddling with it, however.

          As parent and grand parent I’d say you better not… 😉

          I do have a thumb drive that I can use to back up some vital files.

          You ‘should’ do that anyway and regularly!

          Back when I bought the cpu, the first time I turned it on it gave me a BSOD. Since then, it hasn’t really done that more than twice.

          That was the pointy in time when you should have returned the machine for a warranty exchange!

          All this sounds like you have a combination of hardware and software problems. If you still can claim warranty do it before the warranty runs out.
          Other than that a new machine seems to be in your near future.

          • #1382192

            I’ve been fighting exactly the same problem! During months of troubleshooting, I have changed every board, memory, and CPU. Playing with the CPU’s,I suddenly lost one of the dual cores. I replaced the CPU – same thing. However, it HASN’T locked up since! (2 months) Except it is VERY slow now. Working on how to change mobos with win 7. Win 7 doesn’t like changes such as this! Is there any way to put this Win 7 hard drive in a different computer, without a complete reinstall? I have years of files that I don’t want to lose!

            • #1382215

              Alright so, I have backed up what I needed to on my cpu.

              Could the motherboard be the only thing causing the problem here? If worst comes to worst, I’d rather salvage what parts I can for my future cpu.

              Is there any way to put this Win 7 hard drive in a different computer, without a complete reinstall?

              You could always try to back up the install on disk right? Otherwise, maybe an external hard drive would work. Good to know I’m not the only one out there having this problem.

              Other than the random lock ups, my cpu runs just fine. As of this August it will be 3 years old.

              And yeah…I should have done something when I got that BSOD, but I was desperately in need of a personal cpu to use for my school I was planning to attend.

            • #1382235

              I’ve been fighting exactly the same problem! During months of troubleshooting, I have changed every board, memory, and CPU. Playing with the CPU’s,I suddenly lost one of the dual cores. I replaced the CPU – same thing. However, it HASN’T locked up since! (2 months) Except it is VERY slow now. Working on how to change mobos with win 7. Win 7 doesn’t like changes such as this! Is there any way to put this Win 7 hard drive in a different computer, without a complete reinstall? I have years of files that I don’t want to lose!

              You could do a drive image saved to an external HDD. (‘Easeus-to-do’ is a good third party one ) Then with a new HDD (or the original HDD reformatted) you may be able to restore the image to the disk (using the restore disk created in Easus-to-do program before hand) if the hardware drivers are not too different. (probably OK if replacing Mobo with same model as drivers needed are likely to be similar)

              A very good idea to backup any files you can’t afford to lose to an external disk so can replace them if a clean install becomes needed.

            • #1382744

              Tried an Acronis backup from my ext. drive. Didn’t work. Experimenting with a ” clone” copy drive. Started with a clean install of Win 7. Ran fine. Installed the Acronis backup – won’t even boot to a “blue screen”!

            • #1385176

              I’ve been fighting exactly the same problem! During months of troubleshooting, I have changed every board, memory, and CPU. Playing with the CPU’s,I suddenly lost one of the dual cores. I replaced the CPU – same thing. However, it HASN’T locked up since! (2 months) Except it is VERY slow now. Working on how to change mobos with win 7. Win 7 doesn’t like changes such as this! Is there any way to put this Win 7 hard drive in a different computer, without a complete reinstall? I have years of files that I don’t want to lose!

              Welcome to the Lounge!

              Here’s what you could do, in order to achieve a complete reinstall AND preserve your years of files:

              Pull out your current hard drive, and install a new, big hard drive. For the time being, put your current hard drive in the static bag that the new one came in.

              Now, do a complete install of Windows. Do all service packs, updates, anti-virus, etc. Reinstall all software.

              Now, shut down the computer, and install your previous hard drive as the secondary drive.

              All of your files are now available on the old hard drive, and you have a fresh install of Windows on the bigger, newer hard drive.

              Just make sure to back everything up, so that if something happens, you can recover it.

              Group "L" (Linux Mint)
              with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server
            • #1385230

              Jim, Jim, Jim…

              But then you have to REINSTALL all your programs.

              Zig

            • #1385404

              Jim, Jim, Jim…

              But then you have to REINSTALL all your programs.

              Zig

              Yeah, but I’ll bet they run better after doing so! :^_^:

              Great chance to clean out all of the debris which may be causing him problems.

              The only thing is, I would install everything on a new hard drive, so that if things don’t work, he can always reconnect his old drive and be back in business.

              Group "L" (Linux Mint)
              with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server
    • #1382237

      WINDOWS 7 RANDOM LOCK UP

      The file system structure on the disk is corrupt and unusable. Please run the chkdsk utility on the volume C:.
      The file system structure on the disk is corrupt and unusable. Please run the chkdsk utility on the volume OS.

      I have a 64-bit version of windows 7 installed. I booted the computer for the first time during the summer of 2010.

      Energy,
      Hello… Did you try from an elevated command prompt the sfc /scannow.. ( System File checker ) ? This will repair any corrupt files.

      Did you run chkdsk /r ? this will repair any “bad’s” on your HD ..(Run from elevated command prompt as well)

      Also i have had Freeze problems of several kinds with “7 64 and 32” as well ….. waking from sleep ( PC not me…OK sometimes me) That is caused by Norton 2013 NIS solved by reverting back to 2012 NIS

      Another was my graphics (Nvidia ) reverted to an older version 197.45 and changing the “Manage 3d settings ” and setting all to “Prefer maximum performance”

      Just my 2¢ :cheers: Regards Fred

    • #1382516

      Do any of you have an SSD as your hard drive? Many SSDs from 2009 – 2012 have freeze/crash/BSOD problems. A software/firmware update from the maker’s website may fix the problem.

    • #1382580

      All my comps have SSD as boot drives with the OS on. I have never had any problems whatsoever with any of them (Crucial and Corsair SSD).
      The only drives I have had fail were all standard platter drives which is why I changed plus the massive speed increase).

    • #1382628

      Energy,
      Hello… Did you try from an elevated command prompt the sfc /scannow.. ( System File checker ) ? This will repair any corrupt files.

      Did you run chkdsk /r ? this will repair any “bad’s” on your HD ..(Run from elevated command prompt as well)

      No I haven’t, I’ll have to look into that next. Though, I’ve never done it before so I’m unfamiliar with the process.

      Also i have had Freeze problems of several kinds with “7 64 and 32” as well ….. waking from sleep ( PC not me…OK sometimes me) That is caused by Norton 2013 NIS solved by reverting back to 2012 NIS

      Another was my graphics (Nvidia ) reverted to an older version 197.45 and changing the “Manage 3d settings ” and setting all to “Prefer maximum performance”

      Well, I don’t have Norton (I use Avast and PC Tools Firewall). I know that my video card is dated, being an ATI Radeon HD 5670.

      Thanks again.

      • #1382752

        No I haven’t, I’ll have to look into that next. Though, I’ve never done it before so I’m unfamiliar with the process.

        Energy,
        Hello….. Go to start>All Programs>Accessories>Command Prompt> Right click…. and “run as Administrator” When the screen opens input the following…..

        sfc /scannow This will take a bit …. When finished re-boot and see what happens with freeze problem

        Next try would be the same procedure …only this time input …… chkdsk /r This will take along time but will “Repair” your HD ( moves bad sectors) Post back with any questions ….:cheers: Regards Fred

    • #1382911

      Okay, so the sfc /scannow came up with nothing.

      The chkdsk /r could not be run because ‘the volume is in use by another process’, so I choose to have it run when it next restarts. That too came up clean, though it did not take a long time, rather like a few seconds?? (both were run as administrator)

      Not sure what that means. Thanks for the help.

      • #1382942

        The chkdsk /r could not be run because ‘the volume is in use by another process’, so I choose to have it run when it next restarts. That too came up clean, though it did not take a long time, rather like a few seconds?? (both were run as administrator)

        Energy,

        Hello…. Sounds like the “chkdsk /r” did not run as it should …no way that it would only take a few seconds. Try this again, also what is the size of your HD that you’re trying to run this utility on? ….:cheers: Regards Fred

        • #1382988

          My HD is 585 gigabytes, with 426 gigabytes free.

          Alright, I’ll try it again using this method. A few questions:

          1. Do I just type /F, /V, /R following or before the other command code elements in the order shown?

          2. Would the L element default to my HD size like it says?

          Thanks again.

          • #1382993

            1. Do I just type /F, /V, /R following or before the other command code elements in the order shown?

            Energy,
            Hello… The command that you need is from Elevated command Prompt ( right click run as administrator) ” chkdsk /r” ( no quotes) Space after chkdsk…the r switch implies the “F” ….:cheers: Regards Fred

            PS: you don’t need the other “switches”

    • #1382944

      See if you can read the results in the chkdsk log:
      http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/96938-check-disk-chkdsk-read-event-viewer-log.html

      Jerry

    • #1383142

      Alright so, I got chkdsk to run as it should (it took a long while this time) using the r and f switches. The event log images below show the results:

      33513-cpu133514-cpu2

      Doesn’t show any sort of discovered errors or the like, at least when I looked at it. Or should this have automatically fixed the random lock ups anyway?

      • #1383226

        Alright so, I got chkdsk to run as it should (it took a long while this time) using the r and f switches. The event log images below show the results:

        Energy,
        Hello… Whether or not this has repaired your PC remains to be seen …Running these two utilities are a good first start when trying to track down PC problems.. At the very least you know now that any disk errors have been repaired, and the file system has been checked and any errors fixed.

        Finding these kind of problems takes time and patience … often frustrating to say the least .. I have some PC problems that I’ve been “fooling” with for months … But…. with each puzzle piece found, i gain some knowledge of the problem… and I’m confident that at some time in the future ( should i live long enough) I’ll find answers …well maybe:cheers: Regards Fred

    • #1383338

      Alright, I guess only time will tell now. I will keep you guys updated on when it locks up again, if it does.

    • #1384855

      Just had another lock up. I left the cpu idle for a few minutes while using Excel and Skype and it was frozen.

    • #1384861

      Try running in Clean Boot to see if there are any software conflicts:
      http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

      Jerry

    • #1385563

      Just froze up again…this is frustrating.

      Try running in Clean Boot to see if there are any software conflicts:
      http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

      Alright, I guess I’ll see what I can do.

    • #1388582

      Two weeks and no freezing up yet after disabling some programs :knocks on wood

      Keeping my fingers crossed. Will post any that occur.

      EDIT: lol, should have known I would have jinxed it. Lock up just occurred. Back to the drawing board.

    • #1392132

      UPDATE: I think I may have found the problem. Ever since I reinstalled a new version of PCToolsFirewallPlus, I’ve been having weird issues with my computer. That was also around the time when the lock ups began to occur. Since I uninstalled (about a month ago) I haven’t had any lock ups at all. Just FYI, for anyone wondering or having this issue as well.

      • #1392135

        Yes, that does make some sense, anything loading drivers can trigger oddities, especially old, incompatible or badly -written security software. One thing you should always do when installing replacement security software is to ensure the previous package is completely cleaned out, most companies have their own tools to do this, a list of some of these here: http://www.carrona.org/avuninst.html

        Any remnant remaining may cause strange issues such as those you’ve encountered. BTW, I believe PCTools software is no longer being developed/updated by Symantec, expect to see a(nother) new owner sometime in the future.

    • #1392177

      @Energyflux2012:
      IMHO since Windows XP SP2 no Windows computer has ever again needed any third party software firewall.
      Thank you for this additional “nail in the coffin”.

    Viewing 14 reply threads
    Reply To: Windows 7 random lock up

    You can use BBCodes to format your content.
    Your account can't use all available BBCodes, they will be stripped before saving.

    Your information: